“I am deeply saddened by the death of Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. It is a great loss. May his soul rest in peace,” she tweeted.

Dasmunsi, who was in coma since 2008, died on Monday at Apollo Hospital here, doctors said.

“My deep condolences to members of his family, well wishers and party workers,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo lamented that had it not been for the stroke and the subsequent coma, he would have had a longer political career.

“He was a very popular leader in Bengal since 1972. He was in coma for almost nine years. A massive stroke in 2008 virtually ended his political career otherwise he could have done more in his political life. He was still alive but now he is no more,” Banerjee said.